boarding other peoples dogs in my own home

missloulou

Hi,

I am thinking about starting to board other peoples dogs in my own home (while they are on holidays etc.)

The dogs will be kept with my own dog in my house, walked in the forest everyday and taken in as one of the family.

Apart from the obvious could you please suggest other things I need to offer? There are vets locally should there ever be a need and the house is secure.

Any other suggestions welcome!

Thanks

MaryK666

Great idea missloulou,

The only other thing I can suggest is insurance. If anything goes wrong or any of the dogs become ill, get injured or, God forbid, get lost, then you'll have insurance to cover your costs and insurance in case the pet owner decides to sue you.

Hopefully it'll never come to that but it doesn't hurt to be covered - just in case.

Good luck with your new business and I hope it goes really well for you.

Vel

Running a business from your house requires planning permission. I'm aware of a case of someone who does similar and due to constant barking of dogs visiting her house, her neighbours complained to the Local Council. I would recommend contacting your local planning department to advise them of your plans and see if you would need planning permission

Discodog

missloulou wrote: »

Any other suggestions welcome!
Thanks

Yes move to Galway - I know several people who would love to see this kind of service.

You would definitely need insurance to cover you & any liability.

Might be an idea to sound out the neighbours before making any kind of application. My concern is that all the red tape & associated costs might make it non-viable which would be a shame.

missloulou

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I would not expect to be in a position to have 4 or 5 dogs at the same time, I am hoping for a max of 2 at any one time so that I can properly look after them and give them the attention they need.

I live in a rural area and only have 1 neighbour who is a distance away, their dogs nearly live at my house

Thank you again, and keep them coming!

Discodog

That gives you a bit of a moral dilemma - do you tell them or not ?

If your nearest neighbour is sound & you have a safe secure location it sounds good to me.

How much will you charge to collect & deliver to Galway ?

borderlinemeath

I was thinking of doing this myself:D. Not robbing your idea OP!!

We're fairly rural and have an acre of secure gardens surrounded by farmland, we have 2 neighbours and the idea came about as one of them minds our dog when we're away and she's SO much happier when she's looked after by him rather than going to kennels.

I would never leave our dog into kennels again after having her looked after "at home".

falabo

borderlinemeath, very interested, whereabouts are you based ? I'm in Meath. cheers

Sigma Force

I like the idea it's a great idea to have home boarding where there are not loads of dogs so you have the time to give one on one attention. Do let us know if you get the go-ahead. Are you on the Wicklow side of Arklow?

missloulou

Thank you all for your comments, I'm near to Aughrim/Tinahely.

I don't think I would need to get planning permission for possibly 2 dogs staying with me for random periods so think I will run with it.

650Ginge

missloulou wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments, I'm near to Aughrim/Tinahely.

I don't think I would need to get planning permission for possibly 2 dogs staying with me for random periods so think I will run with it.

Go for it, I really hate leaving our baby in kennels.

Lexie_Karas

Discodog wrote: »

You would definitely need insurance to cover you & any liability.

Does anyone know where to get insurance for this? Its something I want to look into but I've been told by someone else who does home boarding that you can't get insurance in Ireland for it. I find that hard to believe though. Any advice very appreciated.

Zapperzy

I would imagine it is not as easy as it sounds. I know a fella who does home boarding and he has built runs out the back as he has his own dogs to think about plus boarders. For instance what if 2 dogs just do not get on, have you any means of keeping them separate? What experience have you with dogs other than your own, are you fairly good with recognising doggy behaviour? Would you also consider dog walking?

If you go ahead with it I wish you good luck, we need more doggy services in this country especially my side of the country as ye all seem to be over the east.

seamus

Licencing is important. It's an offence to knowingly keep any dog on your premises without a licence, even if it doesn't belong to you.

You will need a general dog licence if you wish to run a boarding kennel. I think it's €225 per year. This licence is effectively for dogs "in transition", but will cover boarding too.

Edit: Actually you don't need a licence so long as you know that the owner does have a licence. However, it might just be simpler to pay the €225 outlay each year so you know you're covered no matter what.

Zulu

Potential first customer here. Open for PM's?

ISDW

seamus wrote: »

Licencing is important. It's an offence to knowingly keep any dog on your premises without a licence, even if it doesn't belong to you.

You will need a general dog licence if you wish to run a boarding kennel. I think it's €225 per year. This licence is effectively for dogs "in transition", but will cover boarding too.

Edit: Actually you don't need a licence so long as you know that the owner does have a licence. However, it might just be simpler to pay the €225 outlay each year so you know you're covered no matter what.

General licence is €253. Much debate about whether kennels need a licence or not, if the dog is already licensed by the owner, then that should be enough.

Sassy58

I'm based in Dublin and have minded quiet a few dogs for people at this stage. We have taken in long term boarders as well where someone has had to go into hospital or gone away on extended holidays.

Your main concern would be how they would get on with your own dogs....when the dogs get on its brillant and everything is great but if they don't it can be a nightmare.

I think the most dogs I have had in the house at one time is 7 (3 being my own)....my dogs are chilled and have no issue sharing toys or food etc but you have to take into account if you are getting a dog from a single dog household there can be issues. You need to be able to spot warning signs straight away as if things escalate it can get bad. Thankfully we have never had any incidents in the house (besides running out of sofa space).

It is great loading up the car with the dogs getting to the beach and just opening the doors and watching people's faces when they see all the dogs (its the little things that make me happy).

Thankfully I have never had to leave my crew into kennels as one of our dogs is quiet nervous and I am not sure how she would cope with the isolation being locked in a kennel for most of the dog.

missloulou

Thank you all for your suggestions, am hoping to be up and running in a couple of weeks.

Hopefully lots of happy doggies and their owners shall pass through my door.

SukisMam

Vel wrote: »

Running a business from your house requires planning permission. I'm aware of a case of someone who does similar and due to constant barking of dogs visiting her house, her neighbours complained to the Local Council. I would recommend contacting your local planning department to advise them of your plans and see if you would need planning permission

You don't need planning permission for home boarding unless you are taking in more than 5 dogs at a time.